2006年VOA标准英语-Country Music Sales Increase in 2006

By Mary Morningstar
Washington
19 December 2006

The Country music industry ended the year on a strong note. While overall album sales were down five percent in 2006, Country music sales increased five percent over last year's numbers. Evidence of Country's popularity was also seen in the year's concert box office tallies¹. VOA's Mary Morningstar has more highlights of Country music's success in 2006.

 
Kenny Chesney (file photo)
Kenny Chesney dominated the Country field in 2006. He spent five weeks at the top of the chart with Summertime, and was named Entertainer of the Year at both the Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association Awards. Kenny's 2006 tour was the second highest-grossing Country outing, behind only Faith Hill and Tim McGraw's co-headlining "Soul2Soul II Tour." For the fourth consecutive² year, Kenny played to more than one million fans.

Newer artists also played a major role in the success of Country music in 2006. Nine made their first trip to the top of the Country chart. They included Trace Adkins, Rodney Atkins and Josh Turner, as well as Jason Aldean and Heartland, who are both signed to independent labels.

 
Carrie Underwood 
The most successful new artist was American Idol³ season four winner Carrie Underwood, whose debut⁴ album, Some Hearts, has sold four million copies worldwide. She also won many industry awards, including the Best New Artist and Female Vocalist of the Year honors at the Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association Awards. Success came quickly for the Oklahoma native, but Carrie says she has the secret for staying grounded.

"I think it's really important to keep people around you, like mom and dad and sisters and friends that you've known you're whole life, just because, they don't have a problem telling you, 'OK, you're acting⁵ like a jerk. Come down a few notches,'" she said.

Carrie Underwood had the longest-running Number One single of the year with Jesus, Take The Wheel, which logged six weeks in the top spot.

More rock-flavored songs made the Country chart during the past year. Bon Jovi spent a total of 27 weeks on the list with Who Says You Can't Go Home, the group's duet with Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles⁶.

 

Others included Keith Urban, Rodney Atkins and Texas singer-songwriter Jack⁷ Ingram, who earned his first Number One single in 2006 with Wherever You Are. Jack feels rock and Country have long been connected.

"The lines between rock and Country have always been blurred⁸, and they just get blurrier as we go on," he said. "For me, it's always been about two kinds of music, good or bad."

 
Taking the Long Way 
The Dixie Chicks returned to the spotlight⁹ in 2006 with the album Taking the Long Way. Country radio, however, virtually ignored the trio's singles. Some concert dates on their "Accidents and Accusations¹⁰" tour were cancelled due to poor ticket sales. But at the end of the year, The Dixie Chicks felt redeemed¹¹ when they received five Grammy nominations¹². Three are for the trio's comeback single, Not Ready To Make Nice.

In other 2006 Country music news, superstar Keith Urban checked himself into a rehabilitation¹³ center for alcohol abuse less than four months after marrying actress Nicole Kidman. Sara Evans became the first Country star to compete on the ABC reality show Dancing With the Stars.  She dropped out after four weeks, however, and announced plans to divorce her husband of 13 years. The singer had a Top 10 hit in 2006 with Cheatin'. Ironically, an unfaithful husband was one of the claims in her divorce papers.

 
Freddy Fender
The Country industry lost several legends during the year. They included songwriter Cindy Walker, Buck¹⁴ Owens and his ex-wife Bonnie Owens, Grand Ole Opry star Billy Walker, and singers Johnny Duncan and Freddy Fender.

And, in happier news, Tim McGraw was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; Vince Gill surprised his fans with a four-CD box set of new songs; the late Johnny Cash earned his first Number One album since 1969 with American V: A Hundred Highways; and George Strait broke the late Conway Twitty's 20-year-old record of 40 Number One singles by earning his 41st chart-topper with Give It Away. In addition, Strait joined Sonny James and Harold Bradley as the 2006 Country Music Hall of Fame inductees.

 
Dominating the Country chart and news headlines throughout 2006 was Rascal¹⁵ Flatts. The group's latest album, Me and My Gang, was the only release in any genre¹⁶ to sell three million copies during the year. A Country act hasn't achieved that feat¹⁷ since Billy Ray Cyrus in 1992. Rascal Flatts ranked third on the list of Top Country tours by selling more than one million tickets and bringing in more than $46 million. The group's lead singer Gary LeVox and his bandmate Jay DeMarcus explain how they've all remained friends despite the demands of their career.

"We're just able to come to agreements really easy, and we know what works for Rascal Flatts, said LeVox. "And, we know all of our parts and of our roles we should play in the group."

"One of the greatest testaments¹⁸ to our success is we've been able to love each other through this crazy ride, and we honestly work through our differences in a mature way...," added Demarcus.

1 tallies   

n.账( tally的名词复数 )；符合；（计数的）签；标签v.计算，清点( tally的第三人称单数 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合

参考例句：

• Cash on hand tallies with the figure in the accounts. 现款跟账上的数目没有出入。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He tallies his own marks. 他把自己的得分记了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

3 idol   

n.偶像，红人，宠儿

参考例句：

• As an only child he was the idol of his parents.作为独子，他是父母的宠儿。
• Blind worship of this idol must be ended.对这个偶像的盲目崇拜应该结束了。

4 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

5 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

6 nettles   

n.荨麻( nettle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I tingle where I sat in the nettles. 我坐过在荨麻上的那个部位觉得刺痛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This bleak place overgrown with nettles was the churchyard. 那蔓草丛生的凄凉地方是教堂公墓。 来自辞典例句

7 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

8 blurred   

v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离

参考例句：

• She suffered from dizziness and blurred vision. 她饱受头晕目眩之苦。
• Their lazy, blurred voices fell pleasantly on his ears. 他们那种慢吞吞、含糊不清的声音在他听起来却很悦耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

10 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

11 redeemed   

adj. 可赎回的，可救赎的 动词redeem的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She has redeemed her pawned jewellery. 她赎回了当掉的珠宝。
• He redeemed his watch from the pawnbroker's. 他从当铺赎回手表。

12 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

13 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

14 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

15 rascal   

n.流氓；不诚实的人

参考例句：

• If he had done otherwise,I should have thought him a rascal.如果他不这样做，我就认为他是个恶棍。
• The rascal was frightened into holding his tongue.这坏蛋吓得不敢往下说了。

16 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

17 feat   

n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的

参考例句：

• Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。

18 testaments   

n.遗嘱( testament的名词复数 )；实际的证明

参考例句：

• The coastline is littered with testaments to the savageness of the waters. 海岸线上充满了海水肆虐过后的杂乱东西。 来自互联网
• A personification of wickedness and ungodliness alluded to in the Old and New Testaments. 彼勒《旧约》和《新约》中邪恶和罪孽的化身。 来自互联网